This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Various biological substances can be used in industrial and engineered applications. For example, certain proteins, such as enzymes, are biological catalysts that are frequently used to increase rates of chemical reactions by lowering the energy barrier for them to occur. Enzymes are powerful catalysts because they are highly specific to certain target compounds, operate at ambient temperatures and pressures, and are environmentally friendly. Use of enzymes decreases consumption of energy, while enzymes demonstrate a high degree of utility due to their speed of reaction, specificity for certain analytes, ability to be engineered and chemically modified, and environmentally and bio-friendly processes. Thus, enzymes are used in many industries including food processing, detergents and cleaning products, pulp and paper, textiles and leather, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, biotechnology, clinical diagnostics, wastewater treatment, fuel production, including bioethanol and biofuel production, and decontamination of chemical agents, by way of non-limiting example.
However, stabilization of proteins and, in particular enzymes, is important to guard against spontaneous loss of biological activity. A major impediment to widespread use of enzymes and other proteins or biological substances is an inability to sufficiently stabilize their tertiary structure in harsh environmental conditions. Many biological substances, including enzymes and proteins, are sensitive to extreme environmental conditions, such as heat or high temperatures, extreme pressure, extreme high or low pH, ionic strength, salinity, exposure to certain chemical agents or solvents, and the like. When proteins or enzymes are exposed to such harsh environmental conditions, the proteins can be easily denatured or rendered inactive by undergoing different denaturizing reactions, which entails loss of activity due to unfolding of the protein structure. As a result, use of proteins, like enzymes, for large-scale commercial use, especially for continuous use, is extremely limited. This sensitivity of biological substances, like proteins, represents a tremendous problem in chemical and biochemical industries. Thus, it would be desirable to develop methods for stabilizing proteins or enzymes to retain catalytic or other activity in various environments, including during manufacturing and production, storage, and use in various commercial or industrial applications.